Additional charges filed against ex-Aurora gym coach

DuPage County prosecutors today filed two additional sex charges against a former Aurora gymnastics coach who will be retried next year in the wake of a 2005 conviction against him being overturned.

Michael Cardamone, 33, pleaded not guilty to the new charges -- predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and criminal sexual assault. Prosecutors said the charges involve one of the young girls who was an alleged victim when Cardamone was originally accused in 2002 of inappropriately touching several girls over a three-year period at his family's American Institute of Gymnastics facility in Aurora.

A DuPage County jury delivered a split verdict in 2005, convicting Cardamone of sexually abusing seven of the 14 girls and acquitting him of sexually abusing and assaulting seven others.

But the Illinois Appellate Court threw out those convictions and his 20-year prison sentence, contending that jurors were allowed to hear overly prejudicial testimony about acts of abuse alleged by the girls without hearing counter testimony about the possibility of false accusations.

In the wake of the court's ruling, DuPage prosecutors decided to retry Cardamone on the charges for which he was convicted.

Cardamone’s family contends that he has been offered different plea deals over the years, but he has declined to accept them, claiming he wants to prove his innocence. He is currently out on bond and barred from coaching. He is working as a heating and air conditioning repairman.

"Today's actions shows the maliciousness and vindictiveness of the DuPage County State's Attorney's office," said Cardamone in a written statement. "I had prayed a new state's attorney would look at the evidence that proves without a doubt my innocence. Instead it is evident that Mr. (Robert) Berlin is more interested in covering up the past mistakes of Mr. (Joseph) Birkett than he is about seeking out the truth."

The retrial is set for April 13, 2012, and several pretrial court hearings are expected before DuPage Judge Blanche Hill Fawell. The first hearing is set for July 27, when defense attorney Ronald Menaker will seek to have the new charges dismissed.